


Fathers & Sons

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-16
Updated: 2003-02-16
Packaged: 2019-05-30 23:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Josh. Leo. David.





	Fathers & Sons

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Fathers & Sons**

**by: spitzthecat**

**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
 **Rating:** TEEN  
 **Disclaimer:** Not mine, never gonna be mine. Anything you recognize from pop culture isn't mine either. If it was, would I still be this deep in debt? Really, if you want my crappy ass job, truck payment and two emotionally disturbed cats you're welcome to them.  
 **Summary:** Josh. Leo. David. The Joshua Monologues #036  


I�ll admit I was not 100% ready to become a father. 

I thought I had a pretty good grasp of what it would entail at the beginning: weird sleeping patterns, no sex, 2 a.m. feedings, crying, diapers, projectile vomiting. 

That stuff I was ready for.

I was even capable of, you know, delivering the kid when he decided he was ready to take on the world a bit sooner than anyone anticipated.

The consequences of David Dakota Lyman arriving six weeks premature, and scarily small, were not something I prepared for.

The list of potential problems scared the living crap out of me. 

Fortunately, David seems to be doing okay.

Except for one thing: he can�t maintain his body temperature and the doctors won�t let him go home until he can clear that hurdle. 

He�s gaining weight like he should, about an ounce a day or so, he�s almost back to his birth weight of four pounds. He eats like� well, the only good comparison is he eats like Ainsley Hayes. Stick a bottle (or preferably a breast) in front of his mouth and he is perfectly content.

So, David stays in the NICU at George Washington University Medical Center while Donna and I split our time between home, work and the hospital. 

She spends the days with him while I�m at work. I come over after work and spend the nights, letting Donna go home and get some sleep. My mom is due up on Tuesday to help us with the hospital routine and Donna�s mom will be out as soon as David comes home.

***

�Josh.�

My mother is nagging me to get out of bed and go to school.

�Joshua.�

No, that�s my father. He�s going to be mad that I�m not listening to Mamme.

�Joshua Elijah Lyman.�

I unwillingly pry my eyes open. When the world finally comes into focus, reality floods my brain and I realize I fell asleep in a meeting on Homeland Security. The President is shaking my shoulder to wake me up.

�Sorry, sir.� I start to stand up.

With firm pressure on my shoulder, Bartlet keeps me in my chair. He sits down next to me, �When did you last get any sleep, Josh?�

�What is today?� I lost track of the days a while back.

�Friday, June 20th.�

I close my eyes to think about it for a second and feel myself start to drift away. Granted, I haven�t slept since Sunday, but I�ve gone longer than this with limited sleep. I think it�s anxiety more than anything thing else.

�Josh.� Bartlet shakes my shoulder again, until I crack my eyes back open. He checks his watch. �It�s 6 o�clock, son. Why don�t you go home? You aren�t doing anyone any good here.�

�Six? It�s six already?� Panic fills my chest. I�m supposed to be at the hospital in a half an hour.

***

The neonatal intensive care unit at GW is very family friendly. 

They don�t care when we�re there or how long we�re there for.

The nurses are exceptionally kind, a far cry from the evil ones in the intensive cardiac care unit. It might have something to do with me being the only guy here at 3 o�clock in the morning feeding his son. Donna uses a breast pump during the day to express milk for nighttime feedings when she�s at home.

It was one of those useful gifts we got at the baby shower.

David eats every two hours like clockwork, which is why I don�t get any sleep. 

By the time I drift off, it�s time to wake up. 

Jackie, the overnight nurse and my new best friend, promises me this won�t last too long, although our definitions of �too long� may be different.

My son is happiest when he�s being held and since he has body temperature problems, we do this thing called skin-to-skin contact. 

Basically, I tuck him inside my shirt, against my bare chest, and sit under a heat lamp. 

It�s weird and I�m sure CJ would find a way to lord it over my head for the rest of my natural life, but it seems to work better than an incubator or something. At this point, I�ll do anything to insure David continues to thrive.

Including wearing goofy looking blue scrubs with sheep all over them.

I try to work while David sleeps. Sheer coincidence has the Family and Medical Leave Act up for renewal after the 4th of July recess. Donna was our point person on it before, now I�m trying to work in some much needed changes I�ve discovered in the past two weeks.

My son has just started his 3 o�clock feeding, when a hand on my shoulder makes me jump a bit.

�I�m pretty sure the President told you to go home,� Leo says softly.

I shift tired eyes from the tiny boy in my arms to the man who has become my surrogate father. 

He nods at me, probably seeing in my exhaustion what I can�t bring myself to say out loud: I need to be here, to make sure my son is okay, to watch over him, to protect him. 

I�m his dad; it�s my job. That�s what my dad taught me.

We don�t say anything else for the next hour. Leo just sits next to me while I feed David.

***

Except for the fact I�m 40 years older, this scene playing out before me could easily be a rerun. It doesn�t seem all that long ago I sat with Noah in Elisa�s hospital room and watched him hold Josh.

Of course, Josh was the kind of baby parents tell horror stories about. 

He wouldn�t sleep through the night until he was almost a year old and he�d only fall asleep if Noah was holding him. 

My friend became a different person in the presence of his son, as though he had an obligation to be a better person, to set an example Josh could strive for. 

Joanie turned Noah into a lump of goo; Josh turned him into a better man.

Watching Josh whispering softly to David, I see the same transformation.

The past 18 months have changed Josh more than he�ll ever willingly acknowledge. It isn�t that his passion has lessened; it hasn�t. It is far fiercer than I�ve ever seen it.

Marriage and family have made him a far more formidable foe. Now he has something concrete to fight for and I can�t help but wonder how far his passion and fight will take him.

Jed has seen it, too. It�s the major reason he switched his focus from priming Sam for his future to readying Josh for his. Not that Sam isn�t going places, but Jed and I agree Josh will go farther.

The miracle snuggled to his chest listening to him formulate legislation guarantees it. You can read it in his body language.

Josh will do anything to secure his child, his children, a better future.


End file.
